As soon as the sky was brightened, more than 100,000 Houjin troops screamed and screamed, pouring from all directions to the city wall of Ningyuan. Since Nurhachi broke through Ningyuan within one day, otherwise all the generals below Jiala Ezhen would be beheaded, so the Jurchens no longer retained their strength and rushed in front of the Han army banner for the first time.

But the Ming army defending the city had already prepared, and even vaguely looked forward to this scene. The battle a few days ago was really too aggrieved, and I didn't dare to rush out, defend it, and the enemy army didn't storm it, and only a few hundred people came here and there every time, and it was not worth firing artillery. And when he finishes fighting, he runs away, and he has no intention of fighting at all.

But this time, the Jin army was unusual, and rushed up in the dark, it was overwhelming, and it was boundless, this time it was good, and there was no need to aim.

The Hongyi cannon at the head of Ningyuan City, after being silent for many days, finally roared again. Under Sun Yuanhua's guidance, these artillery pieces were like being reborn, and the shells were like having eyes, and they would be smashed wherever there were the most people. As soon as the Houjin army entered the range of the Hongyi cannon, it immediately suffered heavy casualties, and hundreds of people were knocked down at once.

But those fierce Jurchen cavalry didn't care about casualties at all, they just galloped desperately. By the time the Hongyi cannon fired again, although a group of people fell, the advance of the cavalry had already advanced hundreds of paces, basically rushing out of the range of the Hongyi cannon.

The gunners of the Hongyi cannon did not stop for a moment, because the second, third, fourth, and fifth waves of enemy troops rushed forward after them, and it seemed that they could not see their comrades who died tragically under the shells.

The Ming army naturally would not be polite to them, since you are willing to die, I am willing to bury it, so I used the method that Zhu Youzhen came up with, desperately poured cold water on the cannon body, and carried out the next shot at the fastest speed.

And those Houjin troops who rushed through the range of Hongyi's cannon were even more difficult to advance, because the Qi family's Franc cannon was waiting for them.

At this time, Sun Yuanhua also went to the top of the city with illness and personally instructed the gunners to calibrate the artillery. The artillery of the Qi family army was already well-made, stronger than the ordinary Franc cannon, and the firing speed was also faster. Within a range of 100 to 250 paces, these Franc cannons achieved even more brilliant results than the Hongyi cannons. This is because the number of Franco's cannons is large and the firing is fast, and the closer the Jin army rushes, the denser the men and horses become.

However, the Houjin army withstood heavy artillery fire and suffered astonishing casualties, and still advanced rapidly. In a short time, the vanguard rushed over the moat, which had already been filled, and Pegasus swooped down on the walls.

Zhu Youzhen and the others looked at the city and wondered, thinking that these cavalry could not rush directly to the city, and they did not have siege equipment such as ladders or iron-wrapped vehicles, so they would not be sent to death in vain if they rushed over.

But when the cavalry rushed to about thirty paces from the wall, they dismounted together, and used the bodies of their horses as cover, and kept firing arrows at the head of the city.

The Ming army defending the city was naturally not idle, and bows and arrows and bird guns beckoned to the Jin army behind them. The soldiers also understood the principle of "shooting the man before the horse", and the first round of shooting was almost always aimed at the horse.

Pity these four-hoofed animals, who carry their masters around on weekdays, but can only eat some forage to satisfy their stomachs. At this time, it was used as a cover, even if he was wearing armor, he couldn't stand the ten thousand arrows at the head of the city, and the birds roared, and a large area lay down in a short time. Some war horses wanted to turn around and run away, but they were slashed to death by their masters, leaning on the corpses, and continued to shoot arrows at the city!

The Ming army was condescending, so it naturally took a great advantage. But the Jurchens have long arms, a longer range, and an accurate head. Both sides were caught in positional fire, and the number of casualties increased rapidly.

The Jurchens, who were rushing up from behind, continued to fire arrows at the city, using the corpses of the men and horses killed in the battle in front as cover.

It was at this time that the Houjin army finally launched their heavy weapons as well. In addition to the previous use of the car, ladder car, and iron wrapped car, they also launched dozens of artillery, including five or six Hongyi cannons.

These artillery pieces were captured from the Ming army in past battles. It was originally scattered in Shenyang, Liaoyang, Guangning and other places, but in the past few days, they have also been transferred to Ningyuan by Nurhachi, and today they were finally sent to the battlefield.

When Zhu Youzhen saw that the Jin army also had artillery, he was so frightened that he was so frightened that he thought that he would break the city wall in Ningyuan, and he swayed straight with his hand; As soon as the opponent's cannon is fired, it still has to be bombarded?

Sun Yuanhua was not very nervous, but continued to calmly command the artillery, aiming at these Hongyi cannons first. At this time, the opponent's cannon had already fired first, but due to the lack of range, it failed to hit the city wall of Ningyuan, and instead killed many Jurchens who shot arrows under the city.

Sun Yuanhua struggled and smiled: "Your Highness, although the Tartars have cannons, they can't use them, and they don't pay attention to the location of the concealed artillery, so there's nothing to be afraid of." As long as they go a little further and are within our range, we can strike first. ”

As he spoke, the Houjin army really began to push the cannon forward. These gunners are all Han Chinese, and they can be regarded as professionals compared to the Jurchens who know nothing about firearms. They knew that the defenders' artillery was at the head of the city, but their own artillery was on flat ground, and the firing range was definitely a little worse than that of the other party, so they didn't dare to go any further.

But just now a round of test firing, not only did not cause damage to the Ming army, but killed the Jurchens, this time the Jurchen generals who supervised the war did not do it, immediately killed a few gunners who lit the fire, and strictly ordered the rest of the people to push the cannon forward until they could ensure that they could hit the city wall.

Zhu You saw that the opportunity could not be missed, and hurriedly ordered: "Aim at the Tartar's cannon, fire!" ”

The gunners of the Ming army aimed for a long time, and at this time, several Hongyi cannons opened fire at the same time, smashing several shells into the artillery array of the Houjin army at the same time.

The Jurchens claimed to be "the best in the world in mounted archery", but they really didn't understand artillery, and deliberately concentrated dozens of cannons together, thinking that this would ensure the density of firepower. Not only were several Hongyi cannons all smashed, but a shell also happened to hit a cart loaded with gunpowder, which immediately caused a violent explosion and killed dozens of gunners around.

Although the artillery of the Later Jin army did not play a role, it also distracted the attention of the Ming army. And the soldiers of the Jurchen Eight Banners and the Han Army Banner took this opportunity to accelerate their advance, and finally tens of thousands of people were killed under the city of Ningyuan, and a tragic close-range siege battle began!

At this distance, neither the Hongyi cannon nor the Franc cannon could attack the Houjin army, and the Ming army could only use bows and arrows, bird guns, and rolling wood and stones to strike the enemy. But against the enemy soldiers clinging to the walls, bows and arrows and bird guns also lost their effect. The enemy soldiers leaned against the walls of the city and carved into them with their weapons.

Because the outer city wall of Ningyuan was still adobe in some places and was not very strong, under such a chiseling, large holes were quickly dug out one after another.

At this critical juncture, Yuan Chonghuan finally showed his superiority. He ordered his soldiers to wrap gunpowder in quilts, ignite them with fuses, and threw them at the great hole under the city. When the fuse burned out, the gunpowder exploded violently, shattering the quilt. The pieces of burning quilt stuck to the body of the Houjin army, and it quickly ignited the whole body, burning the soldiers to the point of screaming and rolling on the spot.

Taking advantage of the chaos in the city, the common people in Ningyuan City also moved the beams obtained from the demolition of the houses to the city one by one and smashed them down. Other women boiled the water and poured the boiling water straight down.

Under such an all-round three-dimensional attack, the Houjin army under the city suffered heavy casualties and ambushed corpses, but they never retreated. Under the cover of the chariots, more and more Jurchens flocked to the city, and the rain of arrows was as dense as flying locusts, as if an impenetrable net had been spread, covering the entire city. More than a dozen ladder trucks also took the top of the city, and hundreds of Jurchen warriors who were not afraid of death began to climb upwards, trying to reach the top of the city in one fell swoop.

Yuan Chonghuan was hoarsely directing the defense at the head of the city, when he was suddenly shot in the left rib by a sharp arrow, trembling in pain, and almost fell down.

Zhu Youzhen hurriedly stepped forward to support him and said, "Lord Yuan, you are injured, hurry down to treat your injuries!" ”

Yuan Chonghuan didn't answer, but dragged Zhu Youzhen behind his back and pulled out a sharp arrow. He frowned in pain again, but he gritted his teeth and tore the placket of his clothes, simply pricked the wound with a strip of cloth, and continued to command the defense of the city!

Zhu Youzhen's heart was hot, and he also stepped forward, took out a flintlock pistol, and kept shooting at the city.

Seeing that the prince and the chief officer took the lead in this way, the Ming army defending the city also burst out with the greatest combat effectiveness, and poured out their anger on the dozen or so cloud ladders. Under the joint efforts of the people, the iron hooks of the ladders were broken from the city walls by the defenders. The ladder lost its support and fell backwards, and the people on the ladder naturally fell down, breaking bones and tendons, and dying at worst.

But several of the Houjin army's iron-wrapped carts finally pushed over, and they also began to exert their power, crashing into the city wall again. The city wall was not very strong, and after a few hits, it collapsed!

But as soon as the Jin army roared and rushed to the gap in the city wall, they found that the black hole inside suddenly opened fire! Where the smoke of gunpowder disperses, flesh and blood fly!

It turned out that the Ming army had already prepared a few Franc machine guns, and when the enemy army broke through the city wall, they used the "artillery flat fire" technology invented by Zhu Youzhen to bombard the enemy at close range.

At this time, Nurhachi, who was a few miles away, was leaning weakly on the soft couch to watch the battle, and several big beyles such as Daishan and Huang Taiji stood on both sides. Seeing that his own casualties were very heavy, Huang Taiji, who had always been cautious, couldn't help but speak: "Father Khan, look..."

"Hold on!" Nurhachi coughed heavily, "See, the walls have collapsed in a few places!" Just a little more and rush into the city..."

Before his words fell, a fast horse suddenly flew behind him, shouting as he ran: "Shengjing urgent!" ”

Nurhachi was shocked and said, "What's wrong with Shengjing? ”

The person who came said breathlessly: "Great Khan, Dongjiang Mao Wenlong led the army to raid Shengjing!" Shengjing has almost no available soldiers, and it is in danger! ”

"Poof!" Nurhachi spurted blood again and fainted. Everyone was in chaos again, and hurriedly rescued.

After a long time, Nurhachi woke up leisurely and said with a long sigh: "If Shengjing is lost, we will be homeless!" Pass my orders and withdraw the troops! ”